Capitol Hill bookstore Ada's will close; Fuel coffee chain up for sale
Ada's Technical Books and Cafe - a science-focused Capitol Hill bookshop, cafe and community hub that has attracted Seattle brainiacs and book lovers for 16 years - will close in June, its co-owner announced Monday on the bookstore's website.
Danielle Hulton said the bookstore will shut its doors after a final day of business on June 6 to "prioritize spending more time with my family and pursuing new career goals."
Ada's sibling brand, the Fuel Coffee minichain, is up for sale and seeking new owners, Hulton said in the announcement. Ada's acquired three Fuel locations in 2020 and stocked them with books.
"After many months of trying to transition Ada's to new ownership, it has become clear that closing is the most viable path forward," wrote Hulton, who founded the store in 2010 with her husband, David Hulton. "While this wasn't my initial plan, I recognize that Ada's was a very specific dream of mine; it feels right to make room for something entirely new in this space."
Hulton confirmed the impending closure to The Seattle Times on Tuesday afternoon. She said "the decision to close came after talking to several experts on how to sell, what to sell at and how to navigate that, as well as talking to several friends and connections and friends of friends, employees, (and) having lots and lots of discussions."
The store on 15th Avenue East is a hybrid bookstore, cafe and coworking and event space with a focus on learning. The genres on the shelves have expanded beyond strictly scientific texts over the years.
For now, Ada's will retain its staffing and regular hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, but Hulton wrote that hours might shift as the store inches toward its permanent closure. Information about sales, special events, hours and more will be published on Instagram and adasbooks.com.
The business will start winding down in May. Special orders for in-store book pickups can be scheduled until May 1, while Ada's subscription customers will get their final book May 15. Ada's will kick off markdowns on in-store books and trinkets around mid-May and the business will wrap up its final week in June with a birthday celebration for the store.
In the post, Hulton wrote that she feels honored to have built a tight-knit community in Seattle over the past 16 years, calling Ada's a "technical space that is both beautiful and welcoming to all."
"The team I've worked with over the years has been remarkably talented, and you, our customers, have been curious, dedicated and supportive," Hulton added in the post. "This chapter of my life is one I will always look back on with immense fondness."
"We've created this very safe space for lots of people that are in tech and lots of people that maybe don't traditionally fit into traditional tech spaces," Hulton told The Times on Tuesday afternoon. "So I'm really, really proud of that and of the community we have."
Editor's note: This story has been updated with comment from Hulton.
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